Salem CC baseball overwhelmed by top-ranked RCSJ-Gloucester; Salem CC softball wins final home game to split DH

TUESDAY REGION 19 BASEBALL
RCSJ-Gloucester 18, Salem CC 1
Delaware County 13-8, Ocean 12-17
Mercer 7, Rockland 5
Raritan Valley 11, Westchester 0
Brookdale 15, Montgomery 4
Middlesex 18, Camden 16
Northampton 12, Bergen 2
RCSJ-Cumberland 19, Union 8
Morris 15, Orange 1

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – When you play baseball in JUCO Region 19 you can expect to play several nationally ranked teams during the season. Salem CC has played its share of ranked opponents over the years, even played several already this season, but this game had a different air about it.

The Mighty Oaks have played some of their ranked opponents this year tough, even beaten a few, but they were out of their league in Tuesday’s 18-1 loss to No. 1 RCSJ-Gloucester from the first pitch.

The Roadrunners (36-3) scored seven runs in the first two innings, added four homers to their nation leading total – three in one inning – and held the Mighty Oaks to three hits total and eight baserunners . 

After Salem scored its only run on Matt Murphy’s two-out RBI double in the first, Gloucester starter Tommy Bradley retired 12 in a row and 15 of the next 16 before Demetrius DeRamus’ two-out infield single in the sixth. The only blemish in the run was plunking Jared Vandersteur with two outs in the fifth.

“We didn’t compete today,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt said, measuring his words trying to stay as positive as the circumstances would allow. “With a good baseball team like that you can’t fall behind in counts and not expect to get hurt. I don’t think we were ready to compete today.”

The Mighty Oaks were swamped by Top 5 Brookdale early in the season, but they played current No. 2 SUNY-Niagara tough in Florida and beat Middlesex, Montgomery and Northampton when they were either in the poll or getting votes. The Mighty Oaks received votes in the official JUCO Division III poll for the first time this week.“it was out of character for us today,” Holt said. “I’m hoping tomorrow (in the return game) we can learn a lesson from it, pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and compete.”

Freshman starter Pat Seitzinger didn’t feel nervous facing the No. 1 team in the country in the run-up to the game. The left-hander said it was exciting “up until the first pitch.”

He hit Roadrunners leadoff man Luca Reyes with his first pitch of the game and then hit him twice more – all with the same pitch. Then he hit 3-hole hitter Kyle McSorley to load the bases after giving up a double to Matt Brunner. He then walked in a run and gave up a two-run double to Joe Meier before finally getting an out – and even that play brought home a run.

Gloucester tacked on three more in the second inning. Seitzinger had his best inning in the third when he set the Roadrunners down in order, but then he gave up a three-run homer Nick Slozik in the fourth to make it 10-1.

“I was fine, I just couldn’t throw a strike,” Seitzinger said. “I was confident. I knew they could hit, but I never really tried to pitch around them. I just couldn’t throw strikes.”

The Roadrunners pushed the game into run-rule territory with two runs in the fifth off Alex Newman, then completely broke it open with eight in the seventh. The inning featured a three-run homer by Meier and solo shots by Reyes and Alex Apicella.

“Pat’s a freshman, sometimes those nerves get to you a little bit,” Holt said. “He’s a freshman going against the No. 1 team in the country and he knew that. Sometimes you try to be too perfect and when you’re too perfect things kind of fall off the rails a little bit.

“We tried not to make too big a deal out of (playing a No. 1). We’ve been saying all week as we were coming into this one not to worry about what the jersey says just play our baseball game and I don’t we did that today. We didn’t execute today top to bottom.”

The Mighty Oaks will look to be more competitive with a bullpen game Wednesday as they try preserve arms for a sweepable weekend series against Union.

Softball wins final home game

TUESDAY REGION 19 GAMES
Morris 10-5, Salem CC 7-5
Delaware Tech 7-9, Mercer 0-5
Northampton 21-16, Ocean 0-0
Lackawanna at Sussex
Middlesex at Camden
Bergen at Brookdale

PENNSVILLE – Chantelle Haskie had three hits and Ella Hayes drove in three runs as the Salem CC softball team took a 9-5 victory from Morris in its final home game of the season to snap a seven-game losing streak.

The win gave the Mighty Oaks (17-21) a split of the doubleheader after dropping the opener 10-7.

The Mighty Oaks rallied from an early 2-0 deficit with four runs in the third inning to take the lead. Hayes, playing in the final home game of her decorated Salem CC career, tied the game with a two-run single. Bella Rappa singled home the go-ahead run and Haskie singled home Rappa to make it 4-2.

Morris made it a one-run game in the fifth, but Salem erupted for five in the bottom of the inning to take control. The first run rode home on an error, Tiana Wilson’s fielder’s choice brought home another, Jolee Robinson singled home a run and Lilly Peverelle and Hayes had RBI doubles.

The Mighty Oaks fell behind 5-0 in the opener, but rallied to tie it 5-5 in the fifth on Tessa Wise’s RBI single. Morris responded with four in the sixth that Salem couldn’t overcome.

Callie Rozak homered and drove in three runs for the Mighty Oaks. Jocelyn Melendez, Rappa, Val Hatterer and Tessa Wise had two hits apiece.

The Mighty Oaks wrap up their regular season later this week at Lackawanna and Raritan Valley and are expected to be the fourth seed in the Region 19 Division II playoffs May 2-3 at Mercer.

Salem CC baseball gets strong pitching to sweep twinbill at Bergen, softball swept at Mercer

SATURDAY REGION 19 BASEBALL 
Salem 4-5, Bergen 2-1
Middlesex 17, Northampton 7
RCSJ-Gloucester 10-10, Brookdale 4-1
RCSJ-Cumberland 12-5, Camden 5-3
Mercer 17, Raritan Valley 4
Morris 9-2, Lackawanna 8-10
Sussex at Delaware Tech
Delaware County 15-10, Union 8-11

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PARAMUS – Matt Murphy hit another home run, Angel Velez moved three hits closer to 100 and Salem CC got two strong outings from its starting pitchers to sweep Bergen CC 4-2 and 5-1 and sweep the weekend series.

It was the Mighty Oaks’ sixth straight weekend series win and first sweep since RCSJ-Cumberland in late March.

First-game starter Jared Vandersteur pitched six strong innings. He gave up runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but otherwise allowed only four hits and struck out a career-high 10. Pat Seitzinger got the save, facing four batters in the seventh.

Seth McCormick threw a complete game in the nightcap. He had a one-hitter through six, gave up three hits total, lost his shutout on an unearned run in the seventh inning and struck out a career-high 12. He’s 5-2 on the season.

“Both of them grinded it out today,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt said. “We needed the sweep and they stepped up and helped us get it. They picked us up today when the offense and defense needed it.”

The Mighty Oaks (21-17) scored all their runs in the opener in the first inning. Yen Rodriguez drove in the first run of the game with an RBI double, then after Demetrius DeRamus walked, Murphy cleared the bases with a three-run homer. It was his sixth homer of the year – all on the road – and third this week.

They scored in the first inning of the nightcap, too, when Rodriguez came home on a balk. They got some breathing room with three in the fourth – Cole Dawson and Rodriguez drew bases-loaded walks and Tim Bowlby scored on a wild pitch. Murphy’s sacrifice fly made it 5-0 in the seventh.

Velez went 3-for-4 in the nightcap, leaving him with 97 for his career. Since the Mighty Oaks returned from Florida the sophomore’s role in doubleheaders has been to catch the opener and DH in the nightcap. It’s the approach that made him an all-region DH last year. In the Mighty Oaks’ last five doubleheaders this year, he is 4-for-14 in Game 1 as the catcher and 13-for-20 in Game 2 as the DH.

SATURDAY REGION 19 SOFTBALL
Mercer 7-13, Salem CC 0-0
RCSJ-Gloucester 5-7, Brookdale 4-3
Delaware Tech 9-0, Lackawanna 0-1
Bergen at Lehigh Carbon
Ocean at Camden

WEST WINDSOR – For the second year in a row, the Salem CC softball team went to Mercer and came up empty.

The once-beaten Vikings handed the Mighty Oaks a pair of shutout losses, 7-0 and 13-0. Mercer swept them with a pair of shutouts last year and is the only team to shut out the Mighty Oaks in both games of a doubleheader since the revival of the program.

The Mighty Oaks were held to two hits in each game and only one runner as far as second base in each game. Meanwhile, the Vikings (33-1) had 27 hits and 12 extra-base hits. Mercer hit three homers in the first game and had five doubles in the nightcap.

Mercer hit three extra-base hits in the first inning of the opener to take a 4-0 lead then hit back-to-back homers to open the fifth inning and break it open. Emily Wyzykowski homered in the first, then followed Stella Logan’s leadoff homer in the fifth with her second of the game. Logan hit three doubles and drove in four runs in the nightcap.

Tiana Wilson had a hit in each game for the Mighty Oaks. Callie Rozak had the other hit in the opener and Emma Hayes the other one in the nightcap.

Something to consider: The Mighty Oaks were blanked here last year on a one-hitter and no-hitter, then shut out the Vikings here in the first round of the Region 19 playoffs.

Velez has Salem CC’s third five-hit game since program revival in run-rule win over Bergen; Dawson drives in five, Murphy collects 100th career hit; Salem CC softball swept

FRIDAY REGION 19 BASEBALL 
Salem CC 17, Bergen 6
Northampton 8-7, Middlesex 7-16
Ocean 10-3, Montgomery 8-19
RCSJ-Gloucester 4, Brookdale 3
RCSJ-Cumberland 9, Camden 6
Lackawanna 6, Morris 2
Mercer 13, Raritan Valley 2
Sussex 9, Delaware Tech 5
Delaware County at Union

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

CARNEYS POINT – Cole Dawson thought he was done. He hit a mile-high pop up to first with bases loaded that was caught near the line for the first out of the sixth inning and was already back in the Salem CC dugout putting up his stuff but his time at bat was far from over.

You’re not done until the umpire says you are. The field ump called the Mighty Oaks infielder back to the plate, having called a balk on Bergen reliever S.G. Song for failing to declare whether he was pitching from the stretch or windup with a runner on third base. 

So, instead of bases loaded with one out, J.D. Wilson trotted home with a run, Chris Kelly and Tim Bowlby advanced a base and Dawson returned to the plate with the same 1-2 count he had before the pop-up.

Given a second chance, the sophomore infielder laced Song’s next pitch into left field for his second two-run single in as many innings that put the Mighty Oaks in run-rule territory in an eventual 17-6 win. He finished the game 3-for-5 with a career-high five RBIs.

“When I popped it up I thought it was an out and I thought the inning was pretty much over,” Dawson said. “I was ready to get my glove and go out to the field. And then they called a balk and gave me a second chance, so I had to do something with it. You can’t give up that opportunity. Second chances don’t come like that. 

“It was weird. I’ve never had that happen before. The only thing close (in high school) I think I popped up to the catcher, but I hit him on the backswing and they called catcher’s interference, so I did end up getting a second chance there.”

Dawson scored later in the inning when Song balked again. Ironically, the Mighty Oaks lost a game to current No. 2 SUNY-Niagara on their Florida trip to a similar declaration balk against Jon Gambone. 

“That was God,” catcher Angel Velez said of Dawson’s reprieve. “That was God. God blessed him. God knew he needed that one and gave it to him, and Cole took advantage of it.”

“It is a weird circumstance,” Mighty Oaks coach John Holt agreed.

The Mighty Oaks (19-17) had a lot of hitting heroes in the game. Matt Murphy collected his 100^th career hit with an RBI single in the first inning that got them on the board. He became the second Salem player to reach the milestone this month – Demetrius DeRamus did it at Northampton April 9 – and will be among four this season by the end of it. Velez (94) and Yen Rodriguez (91) are that close.

Velez was on deck when Murphy hit the mark. Whether it served as inspiration, Velez followed him with an RBI single and kept going. The sophomore catcher went 5-for-5 to move within six hits of 100 and with each at-bat his teammates let him know he was close to something special.

“These guys love to let you know when you’re doing (good),” Velez said. “They love to jinx stuff, they do. They tell me.

“After I got the fourth hit everyone was like, ‘You’re 4-for-4.’ That last at bat I swung at the change up in the dirt, that wasn’t a good swing, then I got that fastball outside called. I just didn’t want to strike out.”

It was only the third time a Salem player has had five hits in a game since the program was revived in 2019. It’s the Mighty Oaks’ first five-hit game since DeRamus went 5-for-6 in last year’s season-ending playoff loss at Northampton and their first in the regular season since Phil Sedalis went 5-for-5 at Camden April 7, 2021.

Velez had four hits in the 12-inning win over RCSJ-Cumberland on March 22 and did it three times over the final seven games last year.

“He’s that type of guy with his left-handed swing if he shoots the ball to the opposite field he’s a hard out,” Holt said. “He’s tough to pitch to if he shortens up and sprays the ball the other way. When he bought into that last year that’s when he really kind of took off as a hitter.”

The hits Murphy and Velez delivered in the first inning helped the Mighty Oaks overcome the 3-spot Bergen posted in the top of the inning. Dawson’s first hit, an RBI double in the second, extended the lead to 5-3.

The Bulldogs tied it in the third before the Mighty Oaks took the lead for good with five in the fifth. Tim Bowlby broke the tie with an RBI double and Dawson followed him with the first of his two-run singles.

“I was concerned,” Holt said. “The energy wasn’t there at the beginning of the game. With this region and its strength you cannot take anyone for granted. I was on them to kind of figure it out. It went some innings to be able to turn the thing around a little bit.”

Salem softball swept

FRIDAY REGION 19 SOFTBALL
Cecil 14-11, Salem CC 7-6
Delaware Tech 16-12, Sussex 0-0
Harford 5-15, RCSJ-Gloucester 2-10
Lackawanna 16-9, Onondaga 3-11
Bergen 7-10, Camden 2-13

CECIL 14-11, SALEM 7-6: Tristan Canavan went 4-for-5 with six RBIs and hit two of Cecil’s three homers in the opener and the Seahawks hit two more homers in the nightcap to complete the sweep.

Salem scored in the first inning of the opener on Callie Rozak’s RBI single, but Sloane Tanner’s three-run homer highlighted a five-run second and the Seahawks never trailed again. Rozak and Ella Hayes both had three hits for the Mighty Oaks.

Salem led 3-0 after three innings in the nightcap, then Cecil erupted for seven in the fourth to take control. The Seahawks hit their two homers in the game in the sixth inning.

Rozak had a pair of doubles among her three hits and three RBIs in the nightcap for the Mighty Oaks. Hayes had three hits, while Lilly Peverelle and Jolee Robinson each had two.